Fifth Grader Making Kid-Friendly History

By Community Contributor busterbrown3

Nov 13, 2017 | 10:30 AM

Melanie Meehan and Bobby Shipman review the latest updates on the Where I Live website. (Posted by busterbrown3, Community Contributor)

A bright and enthusiastic 10-year old is one of the state's youngest published authors, and his story is helping students across Connecticut with their studies. Bobby Shipman just started the fifth grade and his surprisingly frank essay, "Revolutionary War Patriot Ethan Allen," is part of "Where I Live: Connecticut," a colorful new, kid-friendly textbook and website that is being used this year-for the first time-in schools across the state.

Earlier this year, Shipman wrote a well-timed letter to Elizabeth Normen, publisher and editor of "Connecticut Explored"-the non-profit magazine of Connecticut history-and described falling in love with history in the first grade, when he read a mini biography of George Washington Carver. He also noted his appreciation for "Connecticut Explored" which "came to the rescue," given the lack of Connecticut history available in his local library. He also asked to write for the magazine.

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Recognizing the youngster's extraordinary talent, Normen suggested Shipman first try his hand writing for "Where I Live: Connecticut," the textbook and web resource she co-produced with teachers and historians and supplied in print form free of charge this fall to more than 17,000 third graders-nearly half of the public-school third graders in the state. Other school districts are using the free "Where I Live" website and e-book on tablets and computers. The new textbook supports the state's new recommendations to incorporate Connecticut into the school social studies curriculum.

The timing of this unlikely collaboration couldn't be better. A recent Tufts University study, "The Republic is (Still) at Risk-and Civics is Part of the Solution," notes 35 percent of millennials said they were losing faith in American democracy, and only 25 percent were confident in the democratic system. But how do you create an informed citizenry instilled with the critical-thinking skills and knowledge needed to sustain democracy? According to Steve Armstrong, social studies consultant for the Connecticut Department of Education, "Before you can be engaged you need to know something about where you live-who lives there, who works there, and the area's history in order to understand how it became what it is-these are the building blocks of civic engagement." Understanding the hows and whys of one's hometown and state is the foundation for "Where I Live."

When the State of Connecticut created new social-studies teaching guidelines in 2015, they called for the inclusion of the state's history, economy, civics and geography in the curriculum. Third-grade teachers, though enthusiastic, were frustrated by the lack of quality reading materials about Connecticut for their students. So, they did what educators do: they partnered up and helped create "Where I Live, Connecticut" with Normen. Other educators, across the state, are giving the colorful new resource an A+.

It was Armstrong who connected Normen with curriculum specialists Melanie Meehan of Simsbury Public Schools, and Ashley Callan of the West Hartford Public Schools, to develop "Where I Live: Connecticut." Normen suggested that stories about Connecticut history from the past 15 years of "Connecticut Explored" could be rewritten for young readers. Meehan and Callan created the concept and the table of contents and wrote some of the content. Normen coordinated the rest, and wrote and edited additional material.

In addition, several biographical essays on the website were adapted from essays commissioned from West Hartford parents. Tim DeMarco, curriculum specialist for East Hartford Public Schools, contributed essays about Connecticut sports history. Teachers who piloted the program last spring noted that "Hill-Stead's Mastodon Discovery," adapted from a 2008 "Connecticut Explored" article, was one of their students' favorites. As word of the project spreads other museums and historical societies across the state are coming forward to contribute stories.

By coincidence, "Where I Live" co-editor Meehan had Shipman in her writing workshop, and worked with him this summer on his essay about Ethan Allen, which appears on the "Where I Live" web site (https://whereilivect.org/patriot-ethan-allen/). Shipman plans to contribute another essay to the project, about the Farmington Canal, a topic loaded with fascinating Connecticut history and sure to be a hit with inquisitive third-graders.

Normen was able to raise $19,000 to develop the project, but fell short of her goal of being able to provide free print copies to every third grader in Connecticut. The Connecticut Council for the Social Studies, the Savin Family Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, the John & Kelly Hartman Foundation, Reid & Riege Foundation, and an anonymous donor helped get the project launched.

Normen notes that more content is being added to the website, and she is planning to expand the program to include topics that teachers and students would like added. "It's been a great collaboration between the history and education communities, and the fact that we even have a student contributor makes this project truly unique."